A New Hope
by BlackWolfStar15
Summary: Feeling guilty for the loss of his friends to the Fabrication Machine, 9 runs away from his group in shame and comes across a familiar face, who sends him off to bring his friends back to life. Little by little, 9 feels hope for true happiness once more and deals with some challenges ahead of him, including an old enemy from his past.
1. Chapter 1

9 watched from the slab of concrete he rested on as two of his friends, the scholary twins 3 and 4, ran around the wastelands known as the Emptiness, cataloguing anything that wasn't damaged in the War of the Machines from the past. He saw his beloved, the brave and beautiful warrior 7, hide behind a pile of rubble with a sneaky grin on her face as she brought her bird skullmet over her face, preparing to prank her little friends. When the mute twins came over to the rubble to see what was behind it, 7 popped up and let out a fake growl and the twins jumped up in surprise and landed on their backs. 7 came out of her hiding spot giggling, and she came over to the twins and helped them up.

He enjoyed watching his three best friends play together, and laughed when 7 playfully tackled 3 and started tickling him, making the mute Stitchpunk laugh. But a pang of sadness hit him, almost as if it was weighing him down from inside. It had been over a few weeks since the Fabrication Machine's defeat, but he was still regretting the loss of his fallen friends; 2, the kind-hearted old man who became his first friend when he first awakened and sacrificed his life to protect him twice, first from the Cat Beast, and the second time from getting his soul stolen by the Fabrication Machine; 8, the gruff bodyguard who constantly picked on the weakest of the group but protected them out of loyalty, which was in his nature; 5, the one-eyed engineer who was his best friend that had always been like a brother to him and was always there for him; 6, the unstable artist he understood when no one else could; and 1, the old leader who once thought of him as the enemy but warmed up to him after sacrificing himself to the Fabrication Machine for 9 to retrieve the Talisman that it used to kill everyone by taking their souls. And it all began with 9 making the big mistake of inserting the Talisman into the Machine out of curiosity.

He missed his friends so much, but most of all, he missed his beloved best friend and brother figure 5. He never forgot that gentle, one-eyed smile and that soft gentle voice that made him feel calm and safe. The day he lost his friends to the Fabrication Machine haunted him ever since, and he still blamed himself for their deaths all because of that one big mistake. From that day on, he kept the Talisman close to him at all times and vowed to never make the same mistake again. Sometimes he would take it out to remind him of his past mistakes and why he stayed close to 7 and the twins. And almost every night, he still had the same dream that he was alone in the Emptiness and he would be surrounded by the Machines he faced; the Farbacation Machine, the Cat Beast, the Winged Beast, and the Seamstress, and they would take turns trying to attack him and he would try and run off. As he ran through the Emptiness, he heard the screams of his fallen friends and how they try to tell him 'Don't leave us here!', 'Help us!', and 'Go back!'. He would also see 7 in the distance calling for him, but when he tried catching up to her, she was further away from him and he couldn't catch up to her.

He snapped out of his thoughts when 7 called for him, "9!" 9 put the Talisman back in his zipper and got up from his spot. He grabbed his light staff, which looked the exact same one he once had before it was destroyed when he saved 7 from one the of the most terrifying Machines he and his friends faced, the Seamstress, and proceeded to make his way to his three friends. He looked over at the remains of a destroyed Walker, and a small grey moth laid on top of it. It was also the same moth he saw in his dreams every time he got to where he was trying to chase after 7 to catch up to her. 9 didn't know how one small moth managed to survive the bloodbath and destruction of humanity, but what he did know was that ever since he had freed the souls of his friends from the Talisman, the moth had been around them from every place they've been to in search of a new home. He began to believe that the moth was only trying to scare them and bring more fear to them.

9 came over to 7 and the twins, and 7 saw the upset look on 9's face. She asked him with worry, "9, you look so upset. What's wrong?" 9 looked at her and said, "Oh, nothing." 9 didn't want to tell her about the same dream he had 7 knew he was lying, and she knew what he was feeling. She saw the same face everyday since their friends were freed and went into the Heavens. She missed them as much as he did, but she learned to move on without them. She looked at 9 and sighed, "9, I know what's troubling you. But we have to move on. You still have me and the twins." 9 nodded with a sad smile and the twins came over to him and hugged him. 9 chuckled and rubbed 3's hooded head, then he did the same to his sister 4.

9 smiled, "I guess you're right." He looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting late. We should be heading home now." 7 and the twins nodded in agreement and the Stitchpunks held each other's hands as they all started making their way back to the Library together. As they were walking, 9 noticed the moth fluttering over towards the rubble nearby as if it was following them. 9 looked at 7 and asked her, "7?"

"Yes, 9?"

"Have you ever noticed that a moth had been following our every move for the last few weeks?" 9 asked her. "I'm starting to think that it either wants to scare us, or is watching over us to make sure we do our job for humanity." 7 nodded in agreement, "You know, I was thinking the same thing. But I don't know how that moth could survive all that destruction from the war long ago." They stayed quiet for the rest of their walk home until they reached the Library. Although it was the closest thing the group could live in, they thought of it as their temporary home until they could find a new place to live. After passing the piles of books, some that got damaged in the war and most of them that survived, 9 looked at the portrait of how beautiful the world looked before him, his friends, and the war. He sighed and thought to himself, _If only this is what the world looked like now_.

Finally, the four Stitchpunks reached the giant globe that the twins kept many human items including notebooks, newspaper clippings, medals, and jars of preserved animal parts. They went over to the platform at the corner of the globe and 3 activated it to make it move to where their quarters were. The twins went over to a pair of socks and some pieces of rags that acted as a bed and blanket for each of them, and 7 and 9 kissed the twins on their foreheads and said goodnight to both of them, then they went over to the makeshift bed that they shared made from an old empty matchbox, some cushions, and a large rag for a blanket. 7 took off her skullmet and put down her clockhand spear, then she and 9 got in their bed while the twins fell fast asleep in their socks.

9 looked up and saw the pure white moon shine brightly in the clear night sky. He kept thinking about his friends and wondering if they were watching him from the stars. He noticed five stars shining brightly as they formed around the moon. He smiled sadly, believing them to be his five fallen friends looking down on him and his beloved 7 and children figures 3 and 4. 7 looked at 9 and noticed the sad smile on him. She said to him as she put her hand on his shoulder, "They know you miss them, 9. But they moved on like we should." She sighed, "I miss 2 and 5 so much. If only I could see 2's face again and tell him how sorry I was for leaving him and everyone else behind."

9 looked at 7 and said to her, "I know why you did. You wanted to fight the Beast, but 1 wouldn't let you and he was being too stubborn to let you." 7 nodded, "Not only that, but he threatened to have the twins punished by letting 8 hurt the and have them locked up for a long time. When he ordered 8 to beat them both after they looked at 6's drawings of the Talisman and started studying them, I gave that bug lug a well-deserved punch in the face and took the twins with me out of Sanctuary. But I never got a chance to say goodbye to the others, and I kept that regret ever since the twins and I left and found this place." She remembered the day she and the twins ran away from home and found a new sanctuary in the Library and had a sad look of regret on her face.

She continued, "While we were collecting some supplies and the twins found a bunch of useful information about this world's past, the Beast came out of nowhere and attacked us. I managed to get the twins to safety, but the Beast took me down easy and knocked me out cold by throwing me towards the wall. I couldn't remember what else happened after that, but I woke up to see myself in a birdcage that the Beast found in one of the buildings and my back was slightly torn, and the Beast was taking me to the factory. I managed to escape the cage by opening the hatch without the Beast catching me, and I took that bird skull and some of those feathers with me to use as my helmet. I found the twins at the place I hid them in, and we went back to the Library where they helped me recover from the attack." She showed the large brown patch on her back that covered up her number, with only the edges of her number still visible. "After my recovery, I vowed to fight the Beast and kill it to prevent it from trying to kill the others. I thought that after I slayed the Beast, I could go home and be happy that we were free from fear of the Beast. But thanks to your stupid idea, my entire coven except 3 and 4 was killed off one by one, and I didn't even get a chance to apologize to everyone for leaving them, even to 2. I always saw him as a father I never had, and I loved everyone else as a brother, except for 8 but we were sort of friends in the past, and 1 wasn't much of a friend to me either and we hated each other too much."

9 chuckled, "That's something we have in common." 7 smiled back at her love. She continued when her smile turned into a sad look, "When I lost all of my friends, I thought I could never forgive myself for leaving them, but when you freed them from the Talisman, I knew what I could feel from them all; forgiveness. They all forgave me for leaving them, and I forgave 1 for all we've been through." She looked at 9, who had a small worried look on his face that she brought up the painful memory of the past.

"I even forgave you for that mistake you have done. Without you, we'd be all dead, and I would've lived with nothing but regret for the rest of my life." 7 said to him. 9 smiled a bit, knowing that she wasn't too mad about his big mistake. What she didn't know was that he was hiding his shame behind that smile. 7 smiled at him, "The twins and I are so lucky to have you here. The twins love you like you're their father just like they love me like I'm their mother. Without you, you'd have no idea what it would be like if it were still just the three of us. Don't ever forget that you'll never be lonely with us around." She crawled over to him and kissed him on the lips. She sighed, "We should get some shut-eye."

9 nodded, "You're right. It's getting late." He kissed her on the forehead and said to her, "Good night, 7."

"Good night, 9." 7 said and crawled under the blanket. Seconds later, she fell fast asleep, but 9 stayed awake for a little bit. He looked up at the moon one last time and saw the moth resting on a broken beam on the roof as if trying to sleep. 9 turned away from the moth and closed his eyes slowly before falling fast asleep.

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><p>Somewhere in the Emptiness, a creature was wandering around the ruins of an old factory. The creature had a mechanical body and a cat skull with a red light glowing from one of it's eye sockets and a light bulb that acted as a flashlight in the other. The Cat Beast had been wandering around this new factory for days since its release back into the world. The last thing it remembered was when the pure white Stitchpunk sliced its head off when it tried to awaken its master, the Fabrication Machine, with the artifact it was looking for; the Talisman.<p>

After the Machine created the Winged Beast to hunt down the other Stitchpunks after waking up from the soul of one of them thanks to that one Stitchpunk that inserted the Talisman into its socket for it, the Machine rebuilt the Cat Beast and made sure it was indestructable to prevent it from being slain once again by putting a strong metal covering around its neck to protect its wiring from being sliced through. Since the destruction of its master by the same Stitchpunk who activated it, the Beast decided to avenge it by lying in wait to destroy the last Stitchpunks on Earth.

For now, it had been over a week since its revival, but it still needed more time to strike its enemy once again. It went over to the small den it made for itself in a large hole in the walls and rested for the night, planning it's next move to find the Stitchpunks and have all life on Earth wiped out like its master ordered it to.

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><p><strong><em>So what did you guys think so far? I had most of my stories deleted on this site before, but I;m deciding to give it one more try with this fanfic. This is my very first 9 fanfic, and I hope you all enjoy it.<em>**

**_9 belongs to the very talented Shane Acker and Tim Burton, and the story belongs to me._**


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the Library, everyone was sleeping peacefully. 3 and 4 were sleeping like newborn babies in their socks, and 7 slept in peace in her bed. But 9 was having trouble with his sleeping as he tossed and turned and started dreaming.

In the dream, 9 stood in the Emptiness all by himself. He called out, "Is anyone here?" He heard rattling in the debris on one side of where he stood and he began to feel nervous and scared. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Cat Beast jumped out in front of him and roared. 9 shrieked in alarm and tried to run away from it, but he was stopped when another Machine jumped in front of him; it was the Winged Beast. The flying Machine closed in on its pray and swiped 9 from under his feet with its wings. 9 got up and ran, but he stopped when he heard the sound of a snake rattling. He recognized the sound as being a familiar Machine, and soon enough, the snake-like Seamstress circled around him with it's long body and let out a loud, blood-curdling wail.

The Machine began striking him with it's scissor hands, trying to slice him apart, but 9 avoided it by climbing over its body and he ran away from it. He ran as fast as he could through the Emptiness until he heard 7's voice call out to him. He turned around and saw her standing near a small destroyed church. 9 muttered her name and ran after her, and he didn't look back at his enemies. He was halfway to 7 until he looked over his shoulder and saw the moth fluttering towards him. 9 ran as fast as he could away from the moth, and 7 was further away from him now.

"7! Wait!" 9 yelled as he ran as fast as he could to 7, but the more he ran towards her, the further she went away from him. Before he could finally reach her, a giant metal claw grabbed him. 9 turned around and gasped in horror when a giant glowing red eye stared into him, piercing his soul with fear; the Fabrication Machine! He screamed in fear as he tried escaping its grasp, "7! 3! 4! Guys! Help me!" He looked over and saw five familiar faces he once knew looking over at him. 9 recognized them and called to them, "1! 2! 5! 6! 8! Help!"

But they all just stood there and glared at him. 1 scoffed, "Help yourself, you fool!"

"You didn't listen to me after I told you to leave some things the way they were in this world, and look what you did to us!" 2 frowned and shook his head in disappointment. 8 grunted and turned away with 1 and 2. 6 walked away without looking back at 9 along with the two elders and bodyguard, leaving 5 standing alone and looking at 9. 9 never felt so hurt in his entire life. Everyone he once knew was turning against him. He looked at 5 with pleading eyes and cried to him, "5, please! Help me!" 5 scoffed, "And give me one good reason why I should."

9 couldn't believe what he was saying and said with hurtful eyes, "Because you're my best friend." 5 glared at him, "If you're my best friend, then why did you let me die? And why did you kill everyone I cared about?" He turned away and said, "So long, killer of our kind!" He walked away with the others and disappeared. 9 felt like his heart ripped in half and cried out to them, "NO! Please! I'm sorry! Please don't leave me!" He turned around and screamed when he saw the Fabrication Machine activating the Talisman and the three Machines gathered over and watched in anticipation for their creator to destroy him. 9 tried to escape the Machine's grasp, but it was no use. He let out one last scream of horror when three green beams blasted out of the Talisman and headed for him, ready to steal his soul.

9 woke up from his nightmare with a gasp and shot up in his bed. He panted heavily as he looked around the quarters. He sighed in relief when he only saw 3 and 4 asleep in their socks and 7 still sleeping peacefully in their bed. 9 looked up at the sky and saw it was close to sunrise. He looked at his sleeping love and sighed sadly. She gave him a motivation that night and it still didn't help him through this depression he was going through. He made his final decision and left the comfort of his bed, grabbed his staff, and was about to climb onto the lift when he stopped and looked back at 7. He sighed sadly that after he will leave, he will never see her again, the only woman he has ever loved with his heart the second they first met when she saved him, 5, and 2 from the Cat Beast.

2. 5. Those two names reminded him why he wanted to leave in the first place, especially those three other names that also reminded him. He went over to 7 and said after gently kissing her forehead, "Good bye, my beloved." He grabbed a spool of thread that everyone had found on one of their walks outside and held it in place at the edge of their quarters, not wanting them to be stranded in their quarters without their lift, and started climbing down until he reached the bottom. Before leaving, he looked behind at his friends and said under his breath, "Stay safe, guys."

But his escape wasn't so quiet because the second 9 reached the floor, the sound of his feet on the floor woke 3 and 4 up from their sleep. They looked over the edge to see what the source of the noise was and saw 9 leaving the globe. 3 said through his flickering lights in his eyes to his sister, _Where's he going?_

4 flickered her lights to her brother, _I don't know. But we should follow him and find out._ They quietly made their way to the lift without waking 7 up and made their way to the bottom on it. They found 9 walking over the piles of books with his lightbulb staff off. When 9 heard their footsteps, he turned around and said to them, "Guys? What are you two doing?" The twins went over to him and grabbed his hands and they pulled him towards the globe. 9 brought his hands away from them and said to them, "I can't stay here guys. I don't belong with you and 7." The twins couldn't understand what he was saying.

9 sighed, "I can't go through with moving on without everyone, and deep down, I know 7 doesn't forgive me for what I did, and neither do everyone I knew." 3 and 4 realized that 9 was leaving them and had sad looks on their faces as if they were going to cry. The grabbed 9's arms and begged him not to leave, but 9 said to them, "Guys, no! You belong here in the Library with 7 where you'll be safe, and I belong in the Emptiness, alone." He began to walk away from them, and the twins once again grabbed his arms. 9 frowned at them, "No! Nothing you can do can change my mind! I'm never coming back. Ever!" The twins were shocked with his new behavior and they silently cried. 9 sighed, "I'm sorry, but I need to leave so you can be safe from the world, from _me_. I know you won't see me again, but I'll never forget you guys. So don't you forget about me."

He brought the twins over to him and embraced them gently. He said to them, "Keep each other safe. And tell 7 I love her, and I always have." The twins let go of his arms and he made his way to the exit. Before leaving, he looked back at the twins and said to the, "Good bye, guys." The twins waved sadly to him as he climbed over the mountain of books and left the Library. After finally reaching the pavement of the once beautiful gardens, he looked back at the Library one last time and started running, never looking back at the building ever again.

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><p><strong><em>How was that guys? 9 runs away from home after having a horrible nightmare, and what would 7's reaction be when the twins tell her about 9 running away? I decided to make 3 a boy and 4 a girl in my story.<em>**

**_9 belongs to Shane Acker and Tim Burton, and the story belongs to me._**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, 7 woke up from her sleep. She got up from her bed and stretched as she let out a small yawn. She looked to her left to say good morning to 9, but her smile turne into shock when she saw the other half of the bed empty. She got out of the bed and looked around the room to see if 9 was anywhere, and she found the lift already at the ground level of the globe. Without hesitation, she jumped off the ledge and landed on the floor with ease and ran out of the globe.

She looked around with concern and called out, "9! 3! 4! Where are you?!" She began to get worried and thought to herself, _Oh, I hope the Beast hadn't come back from the dead and took everyone!_

She looked around the Library more and searched frantically for her love and the twins, and she calmed down and sighed in relief when she found the twins sitting on a partially burned textbook. She noticed 4 crying silently and 3 was trying to comfort her. 7 came over and sighed as she embraced them, "Guys! I was so worried about you two." She looked at them and asked them, "Where's 9?" The twins had sad looks on their faces and 4 turned her head to an upright book and flickered her lights on it. Her lights showed a recording of 9 leaving them and saying the words he said to them, "_No! Nothing you can do can change my mind! I'm never coming back. Ever!"_

7 felt a pang of sadness seeing the recording. She felt like she was stabbed in the heart when she listened to the last thing he said to them, "_I'm sorry, but I need to leave so you can be safe from the world, from me. I know you won't see me again, but I'll never forget you guys. So don't you forget about me."_ 4 finished the recording and she fell back into her brother's arms in exhaustion. 7 nearly collapsed to the ground herself, but she kept her posture and crossed her arms in sadness. She cried silently, "I guess he's gone." She began sobbing softly in sadness, and 3 and 4 put their arms around her to comfort her.

After a few minutes, 7 brought herself away from the twins and assured them, "Don't worry, kids. We'll find him." She ran back to the globe and the twins followed her. By the time they got in the globe, they found 7 putting on her skullmet and shield and arming herself with her spear. She looked at the twins and said, "I'm going after him. You two stay in the globe until I get back so you'll both be safe." She came over to them and said as she embraced them, "Keep each other safe. I'll be back before nightfall."

She ran out past the books and the twins watched her leave as they walked back towards the globe to stay safe until 7 got back.

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><p>9 woke up with a start after having the same dream from last night and panted heavily. He got up from his spot and looked around the broken down car he found as a place to sleep for the rest of the night. He sighed, "I've been having that dream for a while." He grabbed his lightbulb staff and walked out of the car to continue his journey. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care either. As long as he is far away from 7 and the twins, they were safe.<p>

Thinking about them made 9 regret his decision to run away, but his biggest regret were his friends he lost to the Fabrication Machine long ago. He tried pushing those memories of his friends aside and focused on his journey through the Emptiness, but they just wouldn't go away. He had been walking for what it felt like to be two hours until he had finally arrived at the outskirts, and he rested near an empty crate for a while. He wanted to go to sleep, but he feared he would have the same nightmare that haunted him for days again.

He looked up at the sky and watched as the sun started setting in the distance. He stared at the horizon as he started closing his eyes and started drifting off to sleep again. He slept for what seemed like hours when he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night after hearing a voice calling to him, "_**9...**_" 9 looked around his spot in fear from the voice that called to him.

"H-hello?" he called out. The voice called to him again, and 9 gripped his lightbulb staff tightly in his hands, ready to fight the stranger who was stalking him. He heard the voice again from behind him, and he turned around and noticed a pale white light at the corner. Out of curiosity, 9 made his way to the source of the light and heard the voice grow louder as he got closer to the light. He stopped in his tracks when he arrived at a small hole where a Walker bomb had went off during the war, and in the center was a small pile of burning white flames. Out of curiosity, 9 walked over to the fire to get a closer look, but he noticed the fire was far from hot.

9 reached his hand over the flames and put it over them, but he felt no heat from the fire and his hand wasn't charred or blackened. 9 began to wonder what sorcery this was when palr white fog started circling around his feet and he heard the same voice call to him, "_**9.**__**..**_" He turned around and watched as the flames died down a little and the fog coming close to them. 9 watched in wonder as they started forming a human figure, one he recognized from his past when he first awoke in the dead world.

"_**Greetings, 9. It has been so long since I've seen you, but sadly I was not alive to see you awaken.**_" 9 finally recognized the voice and the man's face. He gasped, "You! You're the scientist who created us all!" He corrected himself, ashamed and saddened, "Well, I mean back when everyone was here before me."

"**_I have seen the angst, regret, and emotional pain you have been going through, my greatest creation, and I am here for you._**" the Scientist said to him in his gruff but gentle voice. 9 sighed, "I'm not your greatest creation. I dont think I ever was. All I am was the last thing you created when this whole world became ruins." The Scientist replied, "**_You have always been my greatest creation, along with your loved ones and the friends you lost. You may have made a mistake with my machine, but you have fulfilled my wish to end what I have started, and you have saved the future of humanity from extinction_**."

9 snapped at him, "But I'm not a hero! I was everyone's enemy and murderer! The one who activated your machine and had them slaughtered!" He sighed, "I should have died in their place. They didn't deserve to die, I did." He was about to break down at the memory of his first friend 2 having his soul sucked away by the Fabrication Machine after he inserted the Talisman into it, and the other memories of those he knew having their own souls taken and killed. He asked him sadly, "Why are you here? Was it just so you can see me like you first saw my friends?"

The Scientist answered, "_**Before I gave you the last piece of my soul, I neglected to mention that there is more to the device I entrusted you with. Your fallen ones have not completed their mission on Earth, and they must be brought back to play their part in protecting humanity's future. With that device, you can bring them back to Earth and let them walk on solid ground once again**._" 9 had no idea what the man was saying, but his thoughts about his fallen friends finally made him snap.

He yelled in anger and sadness, "No! They're all dead because of me! None of this would have happened if I didn't have that Talisman with me! You've picked the wrong person to do this task. All I ever bring is death and suffering, and I don't want it to happen again! Just please leave me be so I can always remember them!"

He turned around and was about to run away, but the Scientist sai outloud, "**_YOU WERE THE ONE WHO REUNITED YOUR PEOPLE IN THAT BATTLE!_**" The Scientist's voice boomed so loud that 9 fell back, landed on the ground and curled up in a fetal position in fear. "_**IT WAS YOU WHO SAVED THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY! YOU WERE MY LAST HOPE TO ATONE FOR WHAT I HAVE DONE TO THOSE I KNEW AND CARED ABOUT AND MANY INNOCENT LIVES LOST TO MY MACHINE!**_" 9 tried to speak to him, but he was alreay too scared to move or say another word. He began to break down in silent tears, and the fogs streamed away from the flames and the Scientist's image appeared on solid ground. He came over to 9 and knelt down to him and gently rubbed his back to comfort the Stitchpunk.

"_**9, you have been in this emotional pain for so long. It pains not just your partner or the twins, but it pains me to see you like this.**_" he said in the most gentle tone 9 had ever heard. "_**You need to take this task to ease your pains and heal your scars.**_" 9 looked up at him and saw the soft smile on his face. He said to him, "**_When there are things going wrong on your journey, I will be there for you, even when you won't see me. I will be watching over you and your family._**" He drifted back to the flames and looked over at the Stitchpunk.

"_**To regain your friends, you must restore their outer shells from where they lost their lives, remember the sequence to the revival process, and aim the Talisman to the sky where your people are waiting to return to Earth after pressing the markings in this order.**_" the Scientist told him as he waved his hands and the smoke formed into the shapes of the Talisman and its markings. The lower left marking glowed first, then the top marking, and finally the lower right marking.

"_**I have faith in you, my child**_.**_ I have done all I can in humanity's final days, now it is your turn to protect our future._**" the Scientist said to him as he put his hand on 9's shoulder and nodded with a soft smile. He brought his hand away before his image disappeared and the flames died down completely until there was nothing but ashes on the ground.

9 brought out the Talisman from his chest and looked at it. He memorized the sequence the Scientist showed him, and he said, "I won't let you all down again. I promise." He grabbed his lightbulb staff and made his way into the outskirts of the Emptiness to start his journey. It had already been sunrise and the sun was starting to come up. As he made his way back to the Emptiness, he looked over and saw the moth resting on a dead flower.

Instead of showing fear or worry, 9 said to the moth as he tightened his grip on his staff, "You! What do you want from me?" The moth just fluttered away and headed for the city ruins. 9 wanted to know where the insect was going and decided to follow it. His journey had begun.

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><p><strong><em>So what did you guys think of this? 9 has met the spirit of his creator and he now has a chance of redemption, and now he may have found a way to fill the void in his heart. Will his mission be successful or will it be a failure? A part of this chapter was inspired by the Prince of Egypt where Moses meets God.<em>**

**_9 belongs to Shane Acker and Tim Burton, the Prince of Egypt belongs to Dreamworks, and the story belongs to me._**


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